Some heavy weapons have yet to be withdrawn from Donbas conflict zone

15:22, 22.07.2016 1 min read

Conflicting sides in eastern Ukraine have yet to withdraw some of their heavy weapons from the contact line, Principal Deputy Chief Monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission Alexander Hug said.

He told a press briefing in Kyiv on Friday the monitors saw eight Grad rocket launchers in Kyiv-held territories and eleven weapons of the kind in militant-held territories on Tuesday.

The situation in the conflict zone remains complicated, and the number of ceasefire violations has grown, Hug said.

He regretted that violence escalated in the region over the past week. The number of ceasefire violations grew by 25% this week, and the OSCE SMM stated that most gunfire exchanges happened during the night, he said.

Hug also said that the activity of monitors was still being impeded.

The freedom of their movement is much more limited in militant-held territories than in areas controlled by Ukraine, Hug said, adding that the monitors were recording every case of this type in their reports.

He also said that the present-day OSCE SMM consisted of 700 monitors, including 592 working in eastern Ukraine.